"All that talk about recombo DNA and people _choosing_ to evolve in certain ways--that's why we chose DE-EVOLUTION--taking apart all the assumptions of the past decade and synthesising them"--Mark Mothersbaugh
"Her DNA is in a state of ribocyatic flux... her genetic codes are being re-sequenced... and her cells are mutating as a result."--Data, "Genesis"
Brannon Braga has a weird obsession with beings de-evolving into lower forms of life..."devolution", if you will. He was behind Genesis in season seven of TNG, where the crew devolves into cavemen, reptiles, amphibians, et. al. He was also indirectly responsible for "Extinction" in season three of ENT where half the crew turns into apes (which Braga stated was "one of singularly most embarrassing episodes of Star Trek [he's] ever been involved in"). His magnum opus in this regard would be "Threshold".
It's safe to say that "devolution", despite its ludicrous premise, is a concept which Braga buys into. Why is that? I would say the answer lies at Kent State University in Ohio, Brannon Braga's alma mater. He's a proud alumnus of the school, even slipping a blatant reference to it in "Deadlock". Even though he's from Montana, he undoubtedly absorbed a great deal from Kent State; its culture, and history. Perhaps its most famous alumni.
The band Devo was formed at Kent State in the early seventies. Their approach to rock and roll was very post-modern, and they had a great gimmick: Devolution (hence the name). It was rooted in a number of disparate elements; it was kind of a parody of scientology. It was also derived from a book called In The Beginning Was The End, which posits that mankind descended from a line of brain-eating apes (cf. the inter-crew cannibalism in "Genesis". Finally, it came from their studies at Kent State.
Note this revealing passage from a Devo biography:
"[Kent State Professor Edward Dorn], especially, had been giving considerable thought to the ironies of “progress” and wondering if civilization might indeed be moving in reverse....Dorn and the boys had discussed a television nature program that described both the “sea mouse” and a particular species of snake that had returned from living on land to living in the sea, reversing the expected evolutionary process[emphasis mine]."
The parallels to the end of "Threshold" are striking.
I posit that in his time at Kent State, Braga was exposed to the same environment that led to Devo, and stumbled down the same path. Perhaps he became a fan along the way, or merely attended some of the same classes that Devo had. But there is a connection, however, tenuous, between Braga and the philosophy of the band. Hell, Braga even namechecks the theory:
""I think I was trying to make a statement about evolution not necessarily being evolving toward higher organisms, that evolution may also be a de-evolution. You know, we kind of take it for granted that evolution means bigger brains, more technology, you know, more refined civilization. When in fact, for all we know, we're evolving back toward a more primordial state. Ultimately, who can predict?"--Brannon Braga"
Now, the science is still terrible. The de-evolution episodes are almost uniformly poor. But viewing them through the lens of Devo makes them a little less pointless. Indeed, if you are a fan of the band (like I am), they make an extremely enjoyable tribue.
"Her DNA is in a state of ribocyatic flux... her genetic codes are being re-sequenced... and her cells are mutating as a result."--Data, "Genesis"
Brannon Braga has a weird obsession with beings de-evolving into lower forms of life..."devolution", if you will. He was behind Genesis in season seven of TNG, where the crew devolves into cavemen, reptiles, amphibians, et. al. He was also indirectly responsible for "Extinction" in season three of ENT where half the crew turns into apes (which Braga stated was "one of singularly most embarrassing episodes of Star Trek [he's] ever been involved in"). His magnum opus in this regard would be "Threshold".
It's safe to say that "devolution", despite its ludicrous premise, is a concept which Braga buys into. Why is that? I would say the answer lies at Kent State University in Ohio, Brannon Braga's alma mater. He's a proud alumnus of the school, even slipping a blatant reference to it in "Deadlock". Even though he's from Montana, he undoubtedly absorbed a great deal from Kent State; its culture, and history. Perhaps its most famous alumni.
The band Devo was formed at Kent State in the early seventies. Their approach to rock and roll was very post-modern, and they had a great gimmick: Devolution (hence the name). It was rooted in a number of disparate elements; it was kind of a parody of scientology. It was also derived from a book called In The Beginning Was The End, which posits that mankind descended from a line of brain-eating apes (cf. the inter-crew cannibalism in "Genesis". Finally, it came from their studies at Kent State.
Note this revealing passage from a Devo biography:
"[Kent State Professor Edward Dorn], especially, had been giving considerable thought to the ironies of “progress” and wondering if civilization might indeed be moving in reverse....Dorn and the boys had discussed a television nature program that described both the “sea mouse” and a particular species of snake that had returned from living on land to living in the sea, reversing the expected evolutionary process[emphasis mine]."
The parallels to the end of "Threshold" are striking.
I posit that in his time at Kent State, Braga was exposed to the same environment that led to Devo, and stumbled down the same path. Perhaps he became a fan along the way, or merely attended some of the same classes that Devo had. But there is a connection, however, tenuous, between Braga and the philosophy of the band. Hell, Braga even namechecks the theory:
""I think I was trying to make a statement about evolution not necessarily being evolving toward higher organisms, that evolution may also be a de-evolution. You know, we kind of take it for granted that evolution means bigger brains, more technology, you know, more refined civilization. When in fact, for all we know, we're evolving back toward a more primordial state. Ultimately, who can predict?"--Brannon Braga"
Now, the science is still terrible. The de-evolution episodes are almost uniformly poor. But viewing them through the lens of Devo makes them a little less pointless. Indeed, if you are a fan of the band (like I am), they make an extremely enjoyable tribue.
